Hackskeptic’s 500 Greatest Songs: The Who – My Generation

411 – The Who – My Generation (1965)
Written by Pete Townshend
Produced by Shel Talmy
Label – Brunswick/Decca

Inspired by Mose Allison’s “Young Man Blues” Pete Townshend’s visceral expression of teenage revolt epitomised the feelings of many class restrained British kids of the mid 60s. Stuck in council controlled slums with nothing but dead end occupations ahead of them the urgency of “My Generation” sums up the collective frustrations of youth with a guitar crunching vitality yet heard on vinyl. Roger Daltrey’s stuttering vocal seethes with the venom of a man barely able to articulate his fury for the system and John Entwhistle’s bass solo heightens the tension to a defiant fade out containing Townshend’s shards of piercing feedback and Keith Moon’s manic drum rolls.